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"It kind of reminds of sciences from that comedy Airplane!, when two black guys speak, and subtitles appear on the screen."

Mr Pelecanos, an American of Greek origin, worked closely on season two of five, which focuses on Baltimore's declining docks as well as the Greek Mafia.

As well as viewers, cast members of the show have previously said they found it difficult to understand the dialogue used in the HBO series.

West, an Eton alum, who plays central character Jimmy McNulty, said in an interview earlier this year his father, who was alive for the first two years of the show, did not really watch it as he "couldn't handle the language."

"My mum managed five minutes," he said. "My wife has managed 10 minutes of episode one about five times and falls asleep."

A BBC spokesman said subtitles were available for viewers, but this was the case for every programme broadcast, in order to help deaf viewers.